Observations: 1. Lots of repetition to emphasize the desire for urgency from the reader. 2. The text is instruction. 3. The usage of cause and effect is a product of promise. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer, petition with Thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding WILL guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 4. There is an emotional connection and urge for the reader to truly think about what is being said, “Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever beer or whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.” 5. There is a longing desire wanting to be seen, that us as brothers and sisters put into practice the text. Questions: 1. A couple definitions I asked for were transcends, meaning go beyond the range of limit, and petition, type of prayer request guidance or help. 2. Why does the text use rejoicing and gentleness in the same context? 3. Why should we bring our request to God with thanksgiving? 4. Why is the word “will” look like it’s used as a form of promise in the text? 5. Why is the word “hearts” used in plural format?

1. Who wrote the book?  - The book opens with “The words of the Preacher, the son of King David, king of Jerusalem. They believe the teacher to be a son or descendant of King David, so there are different views on who this figure might have been. The options expressed were King Solomon, another descendant of David, or an Israelite teacher using a Solomon-like persona. But the teacher is a character in the book, different from the author of the book, who remains anonymous. The author of the book wants us to hear all that the teacher has to say, and then help us process it, and form our own conclusion.  2. What was the historical context of the book? - They didn't provide much historical context. It was during the time of King Solomon(40-year reign), around 1015-975 BCE, a time of relative peace. 3. What are some key takeaways from what you learned? - The book is a hard teaching, but something we all commonly struggle with at some point in our lives. The word “Hevel” or, in other translations, “Meaningless”, in Hebrew translates to “Vapor” or “Smoke”. The word is used 38 times to express the importance of how we spend endless days working for goodness and beauty in the world, but just as tragedy strikes, it all seems to blow away. They explained it well as “Smoke”, it appears solid, but when you try to grab onto it there is nothing there. To me, it seems that the teacher and the writer wanted to set people free from a boundless cycle we see in every generation, past, present, and future. Releasing people from the anxiety, stress, and persistence to crave wealth and pleasure over the face of God. The teacher is saying accept that you have no control over all the things in your life. There is the enjoyment of simple good things in life, you have no control over it, and it will all fade away one day, so enjoy what God places in your life while it lasts. I started reading this book a couple of days ago and was asking myself, “Why is this so depressing?”, but now that I have context, I can go in knowing the true message the writer wants to deliver.

The old me was someone who only felt good when they were pleased with how they looked outwardly. I only felt valuable and seen when I had everyone in my life complimenting me and validating me for all the work I did on my self. I was temporarily satisfied with trophies, likes, and staring at my self in a mirror. But when I relized that after all the effort I made in vain how unfufillled I was and out of place. The new me now knows that my worth and identity doesn’t come from how hard I work, but from simply opening up my hands and receiving it. I know now that no family or friend members complement will ever fill me like Christ fills me. He sees the unseen and internally has made me so specifically in a way that is beautiful, so I walk in confidence now out of my identity not for it. As a daughter of the Most High God I no longer want or need to work for any praise from humanity.

The orphan spirit tendencies I see in my walk with God are all of them, but striving specifically. I strive to please God with what I do and how well I do it, pretty much a religious cycle. God is calling me to confront these tendencies by not only recognizing but believing for my self that I serve a God that loves me before I do anything in His name. He calls me to love Him with my whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind first. That starts with first knowing Him and His heart before trying to please Him with the different hats I wear. But taking a step back and realizing He would rather I sit with Him than burning my self out doing work for Him and taking time to get to know Him. It helps to remember that’s the whole reason He died for us, to be in communion with us forever, to do life not just for but WITH Him.

Forgiving the people listed in my journal can help me clean out my VAT by reframing what really happened versus what I perceived happened between us. The devil has tried to use traumatic situations for me to bring confusion and division between my family and friends, but interpenetrating who the real enemy is and the true intention of each person has brought so much healing for me. This will help me hear God’s voice clearly because the noise of thoughts rising to the surface of my mind will be dealt with and the feelings that come along with them.